Flying with a 3-6 Month Old

First things first, check out the tips and tricks noted in the Flying with a Newborn blog. This will help you build a solid foundation of preparedness. Especially for the basics of packing strategies and navigating airport security. 

My son's third flight of his life was from Madison, WI to Denver when he was five months old. The biggest item in question prior to this flight was if we wanted to switch him into his bigger car seat before or after this trip. Up to this point, he was steadily growing towards the maximum height of his infant car seat. Because we had flown with the smaller car seat before, we opted to stick with it for this trip. In hindsight, it would not have been a big deal to transition to the larger car seat earlier. As long as you have a car seat bag with wheels (like this one), you will be able to navigate any car seat through any airport with relative ease.

There are a couple of things to note as your baby works towards more mobility: they want more toys during flights and they want to move more during flights compared to during the newborn stage. This means that you'll have less time to relax during the flight as the parent. I used a packing cube to organize a handful of toys and a book for my kiddo to enjoy during the flight.

I also strapped a pacifier clip to ALL toys. This prevented anything from hitting the ground while on the flight. This was a lifesaver!

Diaper changes on the flight were hardest during this age. My son was tall enough that he didn't fit on the tiny plane changing table but wasn't able to stand up to achieve standing diaper changes. There was some creative positioning involved to accomplish the diaper changes. I would recommend romper-style outfits with snaps to make diaper changes as seamless as possible rather than a pant and onsie outfit.

Eating during the flight is the same for this age as for newborns if you're still breastfeeding, so that was easy for us. Check out my blog for tips and tricks on this topic.

The flight to and from Denver experienced delays that occurred after the plane was loaded, both times! I want you to know that my five-month-old was more well-behaved than 90% of the adults on these flights. It feels very good to brag about that little win! 

When You Arrive at Your Destination

If you need to use a shuttle bus or train at the airport, I recommend keeping your baby strapped to you while you are on that moving vehicle. This also helps you to get get on and off quickly because you're hands-free.

We started using the KidCo Peapod as our travel crib for this trip. We love it because it folds down flat and can easily fit in a suitcase and then when it's popped up, there are mesh sides to prevent your baby from getting out of bed at night. This travel bed works very well for small hotel rooms.

Check out my list of baby and toddler travel essentials for more items that will help make your first flight (and every flight after) a success.

Get ready for a lot of jumping on your lap when flying through this age range, Mama! You've got this!